A venture capitalist is typically distinct from an angel investor. Angels typically are individuals who invest in very early companies and take on very high risk. VCs are typically institutional investors who invest at later stages at higher capital levels. They also take on risk but not ask much as an angel investor.
Slashdot loves making fun of management, marketers, financial people, MBAs, and pretty much every business unit that is not R&D and engineering, but these people are essential to making a business successful. Startups are generally comprised entirely of engineer types who may have amazing technical know-how, but they don't know how to sell their product, they don't know how to manage money, they don't know how how to manage a company and personnel, and they don't have any business experience.
Anyone whose ever managed a business will tell you it takes much more than a good idea to make a business successful: it's 10% idea, 90% execution. Thus, if you go to a VC with nothing but a good idea, you're falling 90% short.
I think you are missing the point. Apple did not invent those categories, they reinvented them.
That's not the point the parent was making, that's a point you're trying to make now.
Apple made them accessible to the common man which is something that Microsoft is incapable of doing.
Right, which is why their OS is on 90% of desktop computers around the world. Certainly the common man could never find a Microsoft accessible.
Microsoft is focused on corporate customers which is why they price their OS upgrades too high
Funny you talk about Microsoft pricing their OS to high right after you talk about Apple making their offerings, which are priced at a premium, accessible to the common man.
Why is it that Microsoft can't seem to do anything until some one else does it and it's usually Apple?
You seem to be under the impression that Apple do things first themselves. MP3 players, tablets, smart phones, personal computers, set top TV boxes, routers, online music services operating systems.... there were products in all of these categories before Apple introduced their offerings. In some cases Microsoft had products in these categories before Apple!
I think the point is, someone always did something like your product before. It doesn't matter if you're Apple, Microsoft, Google or whoever else. There are practically no new ideas out there. You'd be hard pressed to point to any product, without me being able to point to a similar predecessor. Microsoft had tablets before Apple did. Sure Apple's were more successful and better designed, but Microsoft was in the space before them. Same with smart phones.
It gets me access to my account, gives me achievements on xbox games, lets me chat with my friends and see what games they're playing, let's me send messages and read messages I've been sent, lets me modify my avatar. Maybe you don't care about these things, but I like seeing what my friends are up to and where they are in a game, then chatting with them about it.
It also has support for services I use on my xbox, like zunepass. I can play music on my TV and also listen in the car with my phone.
A prior example is with Windows Mobile 5.5 and dropped calls.
A lot has changed in 7 years. The software is incredibly stable and relatively bug free. I can't think of any showstoppers that I've encountered, or any instability whatsoever in terms of crashes and software failures.
I have it installed on 3 of my computers, a desktop, a laptop, and a tablet PC. I've also used the Release Preview in Virtual Box, but no other versions. Accessing the non start menu corners I found difficult, but the start menu I had no trouble with. Don't know why you found it so frustrating.
It's obvious that neither you nor the "designers" at Microsoft have tried to do any real work with the Metro UI.
No, it's just obvious maybe that my work doesn't involve accessing remote windows machines. My work in Windows involves Visual Studio, Photoshop, Illustrator, Matlab, SolidWorks... these all work fine in Windows 8. I agree I don't like the metro interface for doing work since I can only have one window visible at a time, but I do enjoy it for my personal activities. There aren't too many metro apps out there yet, so maybe my opinion will change, but for now I get real work done on Windows 8 and I find myself more productive with the various enhancements of windows 8 (enhanced task manager, faster startup times, enhanced copy dialogue, incredibly better multi-monitor support) and the metro interface (at a glance information on weather/mail/update, full screen search for apps, files, and settings) brings.
The nature of my work requires it. I'm a robotics engineer and I do work from the embedded level all the way up to the high level behaviors level. For the latter work, we use the ROS framework, which relies heavily upon various Linux libraries. We also use Android tablets and phones as remote interfaces for some of our robots, so I have experience developing for them, interfacing with the cameras and inertial sensors mostly.
Thus it positions it self as a phone that doesn't real appeal to any specific segment
Except you have to consider the people who care about privacy and locked down systems are pretty much just people on this forum. Everyone else is willing to buy into Apple and Facebook without thinking twice. Following the same principles as Apple doesn't cut out much of their market, since those people tend not to buy anything Microsoft related anyway.
Okay, I didn't understand this. Do any smartphones actually do this? What is the purpose of having your display active all the time, draining battery? Checking the clock and notifications on the lock screen certainly isn't hard. The only use I could see for this is a nightstand clock, but there are plenty of apps that do that.
28 is an opinion but it's true.
Not true in my opinion. Customizations options are very limited compared to what? It's much more customizable compared to iPhone, where my choices come down to how I arrange my apps and the wall paper. My home screen on my Lumia is different from 100% of other phones out there. It has a tile with my face, a tile for my girlfriend, a tile that displays pictures I've taken recently, a tile that displays my favorite bands, a tile that displays my Xbox avatar, a tile that displays pictures of my friends and family, a tile that shows my appointments... if I put my phone next to any other Windows Phone in existence, I know instantly which one is mine. Put an iPhone next to any other iPhone, and if they have the same wallpaper and the same apps on their dock (safari, messages, mail, calendar, contacts, who *doesn't* have those on their dock?), they're going to look nearly identical.
Compared to Android, WP is less customizable, in that you can't install any skin/theme you like. But it's a bit far fetched to say Windows Phone has very limited customization options.
afaik 36 is true too.
It should be implemented better. Go to any song and tap-hold. Press add to now playing. Do this for any song you want in your playlist. Go to now playing and click the save icon. The playlist is now created. It should be implemented a bit better, but this is in fact possible. I don't understand why you say this is not possible when later in your post you say "also making playlists is unintuitive"
and why does the 800 say "attach to computer if you want to sync podcasts" when going to podcasts if you have no podcasts?
Yeah, it should probably provide a link to the podcasts marketplace instead.
These are not the words of an impartial observer as you pretend to be.
I didn't say I'm impartial observer at all. I said I'm well informed. Everyone has a bias. I like Microsoft products and use them in my personal life. I also like Apple products and use them in my personal life. I find many aspects of Linux as a personal computer infurating but use it to great gain in my work life. I use some Google services like search, mail, calendar, scholar, youtube etc.
As everybody knows, the first rule in the astroturfers rule book is
Astroturfer? Please. I have a longer posting history than you do. Guess I'm in it for the long con! You sure called me out! No, I'm just someone with a different opinion as you, and you can't stand to see it as valid so you have to try and tear me down ad hominem. Get over yourself.
There is that start key on your keyboard that 99% of keyboards not produced by Apple Inc. in the last 15 years have. Tablets will also have a physical start button, much like the home button on iOS devices.
You've just hit upon the Slashdot Paradox. Simply stated, Microsoft can do no right. Add in eye candy and the interface is cluttered and distracting. Take it away and the interface is too simple. This interface very closely mirrors the Windows Classic theme, which I bet 90% of Slashdotters who do happen to be running Windows actively switched to.
I'm glad Microsoft is getting away from the faux materials UI design that Apple made trendy. Shadows, gradients, mirrors, glass... it was all getting very predictable and tired. The metro interface, for all its faults, is based on the distinct and recognizable iconography you'd find at airports and train (metro, get it?) stations. You can find your way around these places without even knowing the language, and just following the pictures. Adding bevels and gradients and embossing to these UI elements just detracts from the usability of the device.
We're now in an age where we don't need to draw physical analogs to digital representations in order to understand them. File systems make sense without talking about a filing cabinet and a physical manila folder. Erasing makes sense without having to talk about a pencil eraser. Copying makes sense without having to talk about a clip board. However, Apple still insists on a physical spiral notebook for their notes app, or a desk planner for their calendar app, or a bookshelf for the iBooks app. Maybe this is comforting to a much older generation than mine, but I find no value in it, and therefore welcome the cold digital interface that metro brings.
I don't have a lot of time to go through this list thoroughly (not like anyone here did either) but there are a lot of claims that are just plain false, (and some are even duplicated to pad the list), and looking at the thread, the list has been modified many times after posting false claims.
For instance, here are a few I know are false or are just padding the list:
False - 21. The idle screen is completely blank and cannot display time or notifications.
False - 22. Only photos allowed as email attachments, documents not allowed.
False - 27. Cannot silence ringtone or alarm by flipping the phone.
Opinion - 28. Very limited customization option.
Unknown - 29. Cannot be upgraded to WP8 (Apollo)
False - 31. Taskmanager has no option to shut down apps you don’t want running in the background.
Flase - 33. Lockscreen need to be activated to show missed call/sms notification.
Opinion - 35. Tiny fonts in messages is very hard to read for those over 45.
False - 36. Cannot create and save playlists on the phone.
False - 42. Online and phone contacts are mixed together with no ability to filter.
Fasle - 50. Apps are listed alphabetically with no way to group by category.
Opinion - 83. Oversized fonts for headings waste screen space and result in low information density
Fasle - 93. Call history does not show the time of call for calls older than current day.
False - 94. Cannot set custom sounds for different types of notifications.
App - Cannot backup your contacts or sms to PC.
False - 100. Cannot change alarm ring tone
False - 103. Zune does not allow user to add or update podcasts directly from the phone
False - 105. Alarm does not revert to speaker if headphones are plugged in.
False - 112. Embedded images in emails do not download
False - 117. Cannot be charged up when battery is completely dead.
False - 119. No HDMI output
Many of the other ones seem nit-picky and are limitations other platforms like iPhone have. I'd like to come back to this list after Apollo is launched to see how many can be scratched off though.
Windows Phone is a non starter for most on Slashdot. The top complaints are 1) I can't load my own OS 2) can't load my own apps 3) Can't choose my own language 4) Can't mount as mass storage... etc. The list of priorities here has almost zero intersection with the list of priorities in the mainstream. From this most people here then extrapolate (based on bias and screenshots) with broad and unfounded claims that the OS has no usability, no features, and its in general terrible, slow, unstable, and behind the times.
9) the phone is riddles with licence agreement and dialogs that want you to give away all your data.
So Points 1-8 rule out Apple and Microsoft, and Point 9 here rules out pretty much every service Google offers. Sounds like you just hate the tech landscape in general.
I also made it clear that I own an iPod (many in fact since 2001), iPad, use Linux daily to make money, use Android in my work, and maybe I should mention now I interned at Google and I own two iMacs, one of which triple boots OSX Lion/Ubuntu 10.10/Windows 7. My opinion is well informed and you try to paint it as completely biased by corporate favoritism? Pathetic.
No, Microsoft will never convince Slashdot of anything. They have to convice people who don't have phones, who have never used a phone, or people who are switching phones to give them a shot. They'll never convince an Apple loyalist. They'll never convice an Android fanboy. They might convince someone who is tired of Android who wants a more cultivated user experience. They might convince someone who is tired of his dated iPhone with a small screen who wants hardware variety. They may convince someone who uses Xbox, Windows Live, Office. But not any of these entrenched users.
It needs a lot of minor things fixed that have been problems for years now.
How exactly is this unique to Windows Phones? People have gripes with every OS that will be in the "next version." Then those features are added and people find new gripes that will again be fixed in the "next version." I don't think there's ever been a piece of software in history that hasn't needed a fix or upgrade.
I bought a Lumia 900 in April and I absolutely love it. I'm probably very different from most Slashdotters though, in that I don't rabidly hate anything that comes from Microsoft. I use Windows, I have a live.com mail account, I owned a Zune, I own an Xbox, and I don't have a problem with any of these products and services. I'm also a little different from Slashdotters in that I'm forced to use Linux for my day job, rather than being forced to use Windows, so perhaps that feeds my perception.
But back to windows phone, I suspect the reason I feel so differently about it compared to most Slashdotters is my needs are very different. I don't want to root it, I don't want to hack it, I don't want to tinker with it and mod it; I have plenty of other toys and gadgets I root/hack/mod (including other android devices). I just want a phone that works as advertised and doesn't get in my way. It makes calls (brilliant call quality on the Nokia hardware by the way), takes pictures, connects to all my social networks, connects to all the services I use, and allows me to download apps.
My choice was really down to two: iPhone or Windows Phone. I ultimately chose windows phone because of Office integration, Xbox integration, large screen, and the UI. iOS is nice and all, but it's starting to feel dated and I like the hubs concept in Windows Phone a lot more. With the latest release of iOS they're adding a lot more integration with services, which is something Windows Phone has had for a while now. Further the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous Lumia hardware made the choice easy. This phone is really stunning, especially with the OLED display. I don't care that it's low resolution, it looks that amazing.
I ultimately didn't choose an android phone because of my experience with them in the past. While I never owned owe for my personal phone, I've used models like the Atrix and various tablets for my work. I found the UI gernally inconsistent and laggy, the apps weren't of the best quality comapred to iOS (I should mention I also own an iPod touch and iPad, and my girlfriend own an iPhone which I've used extensively), and the integration with services I use was lacking. In all, there just wasn't anything that "special" about Android if I didn't want to use it as a development device. The hardware variety is nice, but I also get that in Windows Phone. Actually, I view Windows Phone as sort of a middle ground between the totalitarian iPhone and the free-for-all Android. I don't want either, and that's why I think Windows Phone fits me best.
You can use iWork/GoogleDocs today on an iPad.
You can't do actual work on any WinRT machine yet, or for a while.
I don't understand your point. Of course you can't, there are no windows RT tablets.
Also, models that start at $549 probably won't include office or much of anything.
All indications are that Office will be included as part of the Windows RT. It's the one reason that makes price bump make sense; if they included Office for free, the'd be facing Antitrust complaints.
Slashdot Mirror
A venture capitalist is typically distinct from an angel investor. Angels typically are individuals who invest in very early companies and take on very high risk. VCs are typically institutional investors who invest at later stages at higher capital levels. They also take on risk but not ask much as an angel investor.
Slashdot loves making fun of management, marketers, financial people, MBAs, and pretty much every business unit that is not R&D and engineering, but these people are essential to making a business successful. Startups are generally comprised entirely of engineer types who may have amazing technical know-how, but they don't know how to sell their product, they don't know how to manage money, they don't know how how to manage a company and personnel, and they don't have any business experience.
Anyone whose ever managed a business will tell you it takes much more than a good idea to make a business successful: it's 10% idea, 90% execution. Thus, if you go to a VC with nothing but a good idea, you're falling 90% short.
I think you are missing the point. Apple did not invent those categories, they reinvented them.
That's not the point the parent was making, that's a point you're trying to make now.
Apple made them accessible to the common man which is something that Microsoft is incapable of doing.
Right, which is why their OS is on 90% of desktop computers around the world. Certainly the common man could never find a Microsoft accessible.
Microsoft is focused on corporate customers which is why they price their OS upgrades too high
Funny you talk about Microsoft pricing their OS to high right after you talk about Apple making their offerings, which are priced at a premium, accessible to the common man.
Why is it that Microsoft can't seem to do anything until some one else does it and it's usually Apple?
You seem to be under the impression that Apple do things first themselves. MP3 players, tablets, smart phones, personal computers, set top TV boxes, routers, online music services operating systems.... there were products in all of these categories before Apple introduced their offerings. In some cases Microsoft had products in these categories before Apple!
I think the point is, someone always did something like your product before. It doesn't matter if you're Apple, Microsoft, Google or whoever else. There are practically no new ideas out there. You'd be hard pressed to point to any product, without me being able to point to a similar predecessor. Microsoft had tablets before Apple did. Sure Apple's were more successful and better designed, but Microsoft was in the space before them. Same with smart phones.
but then they have to compete against a tiny SSD combined with a normal magnetic.
What about on a laptop, where you can only have one or the other.
What does it get you?
It gets me access to my account, gives me achievements on xbox games, lets me chat with my friends and see what games they're playing, let's me send messages and read messages I've been sent, lets me modify my avatar. Maybe you don't care about these things, but I like seeing what my friends are up to and where they are in a game, then chatting with them about it.
It also has support for services I use on my xbox, like zunepass. I can play music on my TV and also listen in the car with my phone.
A prior example is with Windows Mobile 5.5 and dropped calls.
A lot has changed in 7 years. The software is incredibly stable and relatively bug free. I can't think of any showstoppers that I've encountered, or any instability whatsoever in terms of crashes and software failures.
Have you even used Windows 8, at all?
I have it installed on 3 of my computers, a desktop, a laptop, and a tablet PC. I've also used the Release Preview in Virtual Box, but no other versions. Accessing the non start menu corners I found difficult, but the start menu I had no trouble with. Don't know why you found it so frustrating.
It's obvious that neither you nor the "designers" at Microsoft have tried to do any real work with the Metro UI.
No, it's just obvious maybe that my work doesn't involve accessing remote windows machines. My work in Windows involves Visual Studio, Photoshop, Illustrator, Matlab, SolidWorks... these all work fine in Windows 8. I agree I don't like the metro interface for doing work since I can only have one window visible at a time, but I do enjoy it for my personal activities. There aren't too many metro apps out there yet, so maybe my opinion will change, but for now I get real work done on Windows 8 and I find myself more productive with the various enhancements of windows 8 (enhanced task manager, faster startup times, enhanced copy dialogue, incredibly better multi-monitor support) and the metro interface (at a glance information on weather/mail/update, full screen search for apps, files, and settings) brings.
The nature of my work requires it. I'm a robotics engineer and I do work from the embedded level all the way up to the high level behaviors level. For the latter work, we use the ROS framework, which relies heavily upon various Linux libraries. We also use Android tablets and phones as remote interfaces for some of our robots, so I have experience developing for them, interfacing with the cameras and inertial sensors mostly.
Thus it positions it self as a phone that doesn't real appeal to any specific segment
Except you have to consider the people who care about privacy and locked down systems are pretty much just people on this forum. Everyone else is willing to buy into Apple and Facebook without thinking twice. Following the same principles as Apple doesn't cut out much of their market, since those people tend not to buy anything Microsoft related anyway.
what they mean with idle is NOT the lockscreen
Okay, I didn't understand this. Do any smartphones actually do this? What is the purpose of having your display active all the time, draining battery? Checking the clock and notifications on the lock screen certainly isn't hard. The only use I could see for this is a nightstand clock, but there are plenty of apps that do that.
28 is an opinion but it's true.
Not true in my opinion. Customizations options are very limited compared to what? It's much more customizable compared to iPhone, where my choices come down to how I arrange my apps and the wall paper. My home screen on my Lumia is different from 100% of other phones out there. It has a tile with my face, a tile for my girlfriend, a tile that displays pictures I've taken recently, a tile that displays my favorite bands, a tile that displays my Xbox avatar, a tile that displays pictures of my friends and family, a tile that shows my appointments... if I put my phone next to any other Windows Phone in existence, I know instantly which one is mine. Put an iPhone next to any other iPhone, and if they have the same wallpaper and the same apps on their dock (safari, messages, mail, calendar, contacts, who *doesn't* have those on their dock?), they're going to look nearly identical.
Compared to Android, WP is less customizable, in that you can't install any skin/theme you like. But it's a bit far fetched to say Windows Phone has very limited customization options.
afaik 36 is true too.
It should be implemented better. Go to any song and tap-hold. Press add to now playing. Do this for any song you want in your playlist. Go to now playing and click the save icon. The playlist is now created. It should be implemented a bit better, but this is in fact possible. I don't understand why you say this is not possible when later in your post you say "also making playlists is unintuitive"
and why does the 800 say "attach to computer if you want to sync podcasts" when going to podcasts if you have no podcasts?
Yeah, it should probably provide a link to the podcasts marketplace instead.
Thanks for your well reasoned and thoughtful response. Good to know what kind of people I'm dealing with here.
These are not the words of an impartial observer as you pretend to be.
I didn't say I'm impartial observer at all. I said I'm well informed. Everyone has a bias. I like Microsoft products and use them in my personal life. I also like Apple products and use them in my personal life. I find many aspects of Linux as a personal computer infurating but use it to great gain in my work life. I use some Google services like search, mail, calendar, scholar, youtube etc.
As everybody knows, the first rule in the astroturfers rule book is
Astroturfer? Please. I have a longer posting history than you do. Guess I'm in it for the long con! You sure called me out! No, I'm just someone with a different opinion as you, and you can't stand to see it as valid so you have to try and tear me down ad hominem. Get over yourself.
How am I supposed to start new programs?
There is that start key on your keyboard that 99% of keyboards not produced by Apple Inc. in the last 15 years have. Tablets will also have a physical start button, much like the home button on iOS devices.
You've just hit upon the Slashdot Paradox. Simply stated, Microsoft can do no right. Add in eye candy and the interface is cluttered and distracting. Take it away and the interface is too simple. This interface very closely mirrors the Windows Classic theme, which I bet 90% of Slashdotters who do happen to be running Windows actively switched to.
I know that I can see all the apps by going to the home screen and scrolling left or right.
And in windows phone I can see all the apps by going to the apps screen and scrolling up or down. Doesn't seem that hard to me.
I'm glad Microsoft is getting away from the faux materials UI design that Apple made trendy. Shadows, gradients, mirrors, glass... it was all getting very predictable and tired. The metro interface, for all its faults, is based on the distinct and recognizable iconography you'd find at airports and train (metro, get it?) stations. You can find your way around these places without even knowing the language, and just following the pictures. Adding bevels and gradients and embossing to these UI elements just detracts from the usability of the device.
We're now in an age where we don't need to draw physical analogs to digital representations in order to understand them. File systems make sense without talking about a filing cabinet and a physical manila folder. Erasing makes sense without having to talk about a pencil eraser. Copying makes sense without having to talk about a clip board. However, Apple still insists on a physical spiral notebook for their notes app, or a desk planner for their calendar app, or a bookshelf for the iBooks app. Maybe this is comforting to a much older generation than mine, but I find no value in it, and therefore welcome the cold digital interface that metro brings.
I don't have a lot of time to go through this list thoroughly (not like anyone here did either) but there are a lot of claims that are just plain false, (and some are even duplicated to pad the list), and looking at the thread, the list has been modified many times after posting false claims.
For instance, here are a few I know are false or are just padding the list:
False - 21. The idle screen is completely blank and cannot display time or notifications.
False - 22. Only photos allowed as email attachments, documents not allowed.
False - 27. Cannot silence ringtone or alarm by flipping the phone.
Opinion - 28. Very limited customization option.
Unknown - 29. Cannot be upgraded to WP8 (Apollo)
False - 31. Taskmanager has no option to shut down apps you don’t want running in the background.
Flase - 33. Lockscreen need to be activated to show missed call/sms notification.
Opinion - 35. Tiny fonts in messages is very hard to read for those over 45.
False - 36. Cannot create and save playlists on the phone.
False - 42. Online and phone contacts are mixed together with no ability to filter.
Fasle - 50. Apps are listed alphabetically with no way to group by category.
Opinion - 83. Oversized fonts for headings waste screen space and result in low information density
Fasle - 93. Call history does not show the time of call for calls older than current day.
False - 94. Cannot set custom sounds for different types of notifications.
App - Cannot backup your contacts or sms to PC.
False - 100. Cannot change alarm ring tone
False - 103. Zune does not allow user to add or update podcasts directly from the phone
False - 105. Alarm does not revert to speaker if headphones are plugged in.
False - 112. Embedded images in emails do not download
False - 117. Cannot be charged up when battery is completely dead.
False - 119. No HDMI output
Many of the other ones seem nit-picky and are limitations other platforms like iPhone have. I'd like to come back to this list after Apollo is launched to see how many can be scratched off though.
Windows Phone is a non starter for most on Slashdot. The top complaints are 1) I can't load my own OS 2) can't load my own apps 3) Can't choose my own language 4) Can't mount as mass storage... etc. The list of priorities here has almost zero intersection with the list of priorities in the mainstream. From this most people here then extrapolate (based on bias and screenshots) with broad and unfounded claims that the OS has no usability, no features, and its in general terrible, slow, unstable, and behind the times.
9) the phone is riddles with licence agreement and dialogs that want you to give away all your data.
So Points 1-8 rule out Apple and Microsoft, and Point 9 here rules out pretty much every service Google offers. Sounds like you just hate the tech landscape in general.
I also made it clear that I own an iPod (many in fact since 2001), iPad, use Linux daily to make money, use Android in my work, and maybe I should mention now I interned at Google and I own two iMacs, one of which triple boots OSX Lion/Ubuntu 10.10/Windows 7. My opinion is well informed and you try to paint it as completely biased by corporate favoritism? Pathetic.
No, Microsoft will never convince Slashdot of anything. They have to convice people who don't have phones, who have never used a phone, or people who are switching phones to give them a shot. They'll never convince an Apple loyalist. They'll never convice an Android fanboy. They might convince someone who is tired of Android who wants a more cultivated user experience. They might convince someone who is tired of his dated iPhone with a small screen who wants hardware variety. They may convince someone who uses Xbox, Windows Live, Office. But not any of these entrenched users.
It needs a lot of minor things fixed that have been problems for years now.
How exactly is this unique to Windows Phones? People have gripes with every OS that will be in the "next version." Then those features are added and people find new gripes that will again be fixed in the "next version." I don't think there's ever been a piece of software in history that hasn't needed a fix or upgrade.
I bought a Lumia 900 in April and I absolutely love it. I'm probably very different from most Slashdotters though, in that I don't rabidly hate anything that comes from Microsoft. I use Windows, I have a live.com mail account, I owned a Zune, I own an Xbox, and I don't have a problem with any of these products and services. I'm also a little different from Slashdotters in that I'm forced to use Linux for my day job, rather than being forced to use Windows, so perhaps that feeds my perception.
But back to windows phone, I suspect the reason I feel so differently about it compared to most Slashdotters is my needs are very different. I don't want to root it, I don't want to hack it, I don't want to tinker with it and mod it; I have plenty of other toys and gadgets I root/hack/mod (including other android devices). I just want a phone that works as advertised and doesn't get in my way. It makes calls (brilliant call quality on the Nokia hardware by the way), takes pictures, connects to all my social networks, connects to all the services I use, and allows me to download apps.
My choice was really down to two: iPhone or Windows Phone. I ultimately chose windows phone because of Office integration, Xbox integration, large screen, and the UI. iOS is nice and all, but it's starting to feel dated and I like the hubs concept in Windows Phone a lot more. With the latest release of iOS they're adding a lot more integration with services, which is something Windows Phone has had for a while now. Further the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous Lumia hardware made the choice easy. This phone is really stunning, especially with the OLED display. I don't care that it's low resolution, it looks that amazing.
I ultimately didn't choose an android phone because of my experience with them in the past. While I never owned owe for my personal phone, I've used models like the Atrix and various tablets for my work. I found the UI gernally inconsistent and laggy, the apps weren't of the best quality comapred to iOS (I should mention I also own an iPod touch and iPad, and my girlfriend own an iPhone which I've used extensively), and the integration with services I use was lacking. In all, there just wasn't anything that "special" about Android if I didn't want to use it as a development device. The hardware variety is nice, but I also get that in Windows Phone. Actually, I view Windows Phone as sort of a middle ground between the totalitarian iPhone and the free-for-all Android. I don't want either, and that's why I think Windows Phone fits me best.
You can use iWork/GoogleDocs today on an iPad. You can't do actual work on any WinRT machine yet, or for a while.
I don't understand your point. Of course you can't, there are no windows RT tablets.
Also, models that start at $549 probably won't include office or much of anything.
All indications are that Office will be included as part of the Windows RT. It's the one reason that makes price bump make sense; if they included Office for free, the'd be facing Antitrust complaints.
I'm sure if they bundled Office for free there would be about 100 antitrust suits on their desk in an hour.